The Lost Puppy
by itchy magee
Summary: Sabertooth is being haunted by dreams of his past, and a red-headed figure from his childhood reenters his life
1. Chapter 1

A man lay on the floor in an abandoned log cabin. Curled in a massive shivering ball, much like a dog, he whimpers in his sleep. He is tormented by the memories of his father.

"_You're no son of mine." The man walked down the stairs to the basement, where a young Sabertooth was sitting, crying on the floor. "You're some kind of animal; full of wickedness, that's what it is." The man raised a large wooden stick, grinning cruelly. "Don't you worry boy, Jedediah Creed knows how to get the wickedness out of you."_

The enormous man on the floor of the cabin whimpered,  
"No daddy, no. I'll be good, I promise."  
Sabertooth's white eyes opened slowly, eyes slightly damp with emotion. Realizing what a weak coward he'd been, he was immediately filled with rage, and commenced destroying anything within his reach. After successfully burning out his seemingly limitless rage, he collapsed to the floor, shaking, not with exhaustion, but with frustration. Dreams of his childhood had been haunting him relentlessly over the past few weeks, consistently reducing him to a whimpering pup.

Sabertooth left the mutilated cabin, and stepped out into the cold northern air. He never felt as at home anywhere as he did in the solitary wilderness of Canada. Bending down on all fours, he took off with no direction, simply running for the sake of running. Not all of his dreams were bad, some were fond memories, which he hated even more than the one's of when his father beat him. They reminded him of just how badly he'd been screwed over. He snarled as he raced through the wilderness, intent on utterly destroying the next living thing he found.


	2. Chapter 2

The Friends of Humanity had done it again. A jet full of very disgruntled and aggravated X-Men flew over the city towards where the group of hateful and dangerous humans was wreaking havoc. Wolverine had had just about enough of their crap, and was going to have to try extra hard today not to actually kill any of them. The Black Bird hovered over the buildings a block from where the police were trying to fend off the Friends of Humanity. The X-Men disembarked, and rushed to help. The police had set up a road block, defending a group of what were undoubtedly terrified mutants (who had probably just been out shopping in the city). It was a relatively short struggle, the overwhelming power of the X-Men causing the Friends of Humanity thugs to scatter. As was usual, Cyclops, Jean, and Storm approached the group of mutants they'd been defending, and told them about Xavier's school, and then extended an invitation to come stay there, where it was safe for all mutants.

Wolverine snickered darkly under his breath when (as was usual) the mutants declined the offer. He'd never know why they kept asking other mutants to join their freak show. Suddenly, Wolverine noticed something; one of the mutants, a young woman, caught his eye. He'd seen her somewhere before, a long time ago. As he approached her, her scent confirmed his suspicions.

He walked up to her, and they shared an awkward five seconds of staring at each other.  
"Do you know me?" Wolverine broke the silence.  
The young woman looked at him scroutinously, then abruptly,  
"Nope." She turned and went to follow her mutant friends away.  
_This nose doesn't lie,_ Wolverine thought, _I have to know where she's from_.

He followed her and decided to try to flush some answers out of her.  
"You're from Canada, aren't you?" he said.  
She stopped, and turned, looking a little suspicious of him,  
"Yes. How did you know?"  
"I can always spot a fellow northerner." He said offering a smirk. Lucky guess; that worked better than he'd planned. Further discussion about their respective roots in Canada lead Wolverine to deduce that she may have been a bigger part of his past than he'd originally thought. Apparently she felt the same way,  
"Wolverine was it?" she asked.  
Wolverine was about to tell her to just call him Logan, when he caught himself. _  
I still don't know who she was to me, telling her my real name would probably not be a good idea._  
"Yeah," was all he said.  
"Is your "school for mutants" open to visitors?"  
"Compared to the "visitors" we usually get, you'd be a blessin' darlin'."  
She smirked in response, "Whatever that means. I'll stop by sometime soon, Wolverine. It seems you and I have a lot to talk about."  
As they both walked their separate ways, she called after him, "Oh, by the way, my name is Lana."

Wolverine wracked his mind for anyone named Lana, but still there was nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

Three days after the incident with the Friends of Humanity, a tall, slender, red headed girl pulled up to Xavier's mansion. She'd been extremely hesitant about going to see that Wolverine character, she was wary of him. He seemed to know way too much about her.

Wolverine jumped up off of his bed upon hearing the doorbell. He pulled a shirt on, and ran down to the main hall. He opened the door and saw exactly what he was hoping to see; the tall young woman who was, undoubtedly, from some part of his past. Part of the reason she intrigued him so much, was that she didn't trigger any emotions that made him want to kill her or seek vengeance on her for some reason. She was an unexplained part of his past that had no positive or negative effect on him (as most unexplained memories did). She was, to him, an enigma.

The door opened and there stood the short, almost animalistic man. Perhaps that's what had drawn her here, the fact that he was so much like an animal. There were scarcely any humans, or mutants for that matter, that caught the attention of her animal empathy. Wolverine invited her in, and she stared, wide-eyed at the beauty of the mansion.

Wolverine sized up the young woman as she took in the mansion. She was tall, and lean, her hair reminded him of Jean's, but her face was rougher than hers. This girl really was a northerner. She turned and looked at him and said,  
"Well, I'm here." Before he could answer, he heard the familiar hum of the Professor's wheelchair, and saw him and Jean appear from a near corridor. Wolverine knew it was only a matter of time before they came snooping in on him.

"Hello there," Xavier greeted the strange young woman. She looked at him, and gave a small smile, returning his greeting.  
"My name is Professor Xavier, and this is Jean." He gestured up at his fellow telepath. "What brings you to our school?" he'd hoped her answer to be that she wished to join them, but he knew that wouldn't be the case.  
"Oh, Wolverine invited me to…well.." she seemed unsure. And Wolverine interjected,  
"She's an old friend, she's here to catch up."  
With a smile and a wave of his hand, Xavier dismissed them,  
"But of course. If there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask."

Wolverine and the young woman left, and Xavier and Jean continued on their path.  
"Is something wrong Professor?" Jean asked as they walked.  
Xavier realized he'd been strangely quiet, and preoccupied.  
"I've seen her somewhere before," Xavier said, almost to himself. He knew that girl from somewhere, but he hadn't the slightest clue _where_.  
"Should we warn Logan to keep an eye on her?" Jean asked, fearing the worst.  
"No, if she was someone who was a threat to any one of you, I'm sure I'd know."  
As the two telepaths continued on towards Cerebro, Xavier wracked his brain for a young red-headed woman from their past. Sensing his continued struggle to remember, Jean suggested,  
"Perhaps she's not from your past, or the past of the X-Men. Maybe she's from someone else's past. Maybe you saw her in Wolverine's mind?"

Xavier was surprised he hadn't thought of that,  
"Good thinking Jean." Xavier said as they arrived at Cerebro's door.  
"I can tell you're determined to figure out where this girl is from." Jean said, "Why don't you let me take the first turn on Cerebro?"  
"If that is what you wish." Replied Xavier, secretly relieved. They were simply using Cerebro to monitor mutant activity in the country. Xavier needed the most concentration he could muster to use it, but he was indisposed at the moment. Jean donned the thick, silver helmet, and began scanning with her mind.

Xavier closed his eyes and focused on all that he could remember from his and Wolverine's sessions. Most of his X-Men had rather tragic stories, all of them had their own respective issues, but of all of them, Wolverine's were the most intense. He scanned all that he could remember of Wolverine's past, scenes and visions flashing before him like a movie in fast forward. He had to pay attention; Wolverine's memories of Jean meant that there was more than one red-head floating around in there. When he'd looked through all of Wolverine's memories, he sighed, a little frustrated that he'd come up empty. He wracked his brain. Suddenly, he gasped, startling Jean.  
"Professor," she turned around in her seat at Cerebro's controls, "what is it?"

Xavier didn't answer; his eyes were closed, and had an intense look on his face. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open,  
"I was wrong Jean. I don't know how I missed it."  
"What Professor?"

"I was looking in all of the wrong places. The girl, Lana is her name, isn't from Wolverine's past, or even any of the X-Men's. I had seen her in another's memories. She's from Sabertooth's past!"  
"Professor, do you think we should go find Logan?"  
"That would be a good idea, this woman was someone very dear to Sabertooth, and Logan probably knows that."  
"Oh, God," Jean said as they sped out of Cerebro's chamber, "who knows what Logan will do to her?"  
"I can only hope that he hasn't remembered who she is, or that if he has, he will exercise compassion."


	4. Chapter 4

Lana sat across from Wolverine in a sitting room somewhere on the ground floor of the mansion. So that's how he knew her huh? She'd tried to forget those days as a child in Canada. True they'd never actually met before, but they had a mutual… "friend". Wolverine sat in a chair across from her, his hairy arms crossed, a tense look on his face. She was about to break the silence when she heard the whirring of that wheelchair again, and saw the bald Professor and his friend Jean walk in, looking slightly frantic. Before either of them could address Lana or Wolverine, he spoke up,  
"I already know."

"Are you alright Logan?" the red head walked over to him.  
"Peachy." He said shying away from her touch.  
"I should go." Lana said hastily, standing up to leave.  
"Lana is it?" the wheelchair-bound professor addressed her.  
"Yes?" she didn't remember introducing herself to him.  
"Before you go, I should like to talk to you for a bit, if that's alright."  
Lana hesitated, she was sure he wanted to talk about…_him_.  
"You won't have to tell me anything you don't want to." He reassured her.  
Lana was silent a moment more, then,  
"Okay." She followed the Professor out of the lounge and walked alongside him through the halls of the mansion.

They were silent for a while, then the Professor spoke up, rather cheerfully,  
"So, you are a mutant, what are your abilities?"  
"Ahm," Lana was never very good at explaining her mutant abilities, and demonstrating them was at times difficult as well.  
"I call it animal empathy. It's not really control over animals, it's just that they trust me, they calm down for me, and no matter how aggressive, won't attack me. Sometimes, I can influence them to do things for me."

The pieces seemed to be coming together for the Professor,  
"Do your abilities work on some mutants as well?"  
Lana nodded, "Yes, I first discovered that with Victor."  
"Would you care to tell me about your relationship with Victor?"  
Lana hesitated, she'd had a rough childhood, and Creed was a part of that. She was an orphan, bounced around from foster family to foster family. None of them understood that she just wanted to be outside, around animals. They all thought she was just a rebel who for some reason or another constantly ran away. Lana found solace in the woods and the wilderness, around the animals that cared for her. These

excursions were how she'd met Victor Creed.

"I thought it was strange at first, a little blond boy in overalls chained to a stake in the ground." She began as they wandered aimlessly through the halls of the mansion.  
"What surprised me even more was that he reacted to me the same way other animals do when I first come across them. They're startled at first, Victor snarled at me like a dog, then my mutant power falls over them, and they trust me completely. The foster family I was staying with at the time lived relatively close to where Victor was tied up in the woods, so I got to go see him as often as I liked. He was like a lost little puppy, my lost little puppy. Eventually, I got him to talk to me, he told me about what his life was like, and I vowed (as staunchly as a seven year old could) to free him. The next time I went out to see him, I was going to free him, and take him with me. But, his father was there, and he ran me off. The next day, my foster family sent me off. I never saw Victor again."  
Lana was shocked to notice her nose turning red, and her eyes watering slightly.

The Professor started softly, "I have seen the mind of Sabertooth, this is how I know you, and through all of the pain and fear and rage that dominate his mind, you were the brightest light in his life."


	5. Chapter 5

Walking across the moonlight wilderness of the north, Sabertooth's mind wandered. He had exhausted all of his rage, and simply wandered, allowing himself just this once, to remember the brightest parts of his past. He remembered his mother, before she passed away. He was but a pup then, sleeping safe and sound in her warm embrace. She used to sing to him, warm and loving songs of sleep and peace. But then all of that ended, and he was left with his monster of a father. Then, there was Lana; the little red head that had found him chained up in the wilderness. She made him feel calm, he'd felt like she was the only person in the world that he could trust. She understood him, cared for him, and was going to take him away with her, had it not been for that damned Jedediah Creed.

The thought of his father enraged him once again, and in a fit of rage, Sabertooth felled the tree nearest him with his claws and muscle alone. Having released his inner beast, he looked up at the full moon, panting. One word could be heard escaping his lips,  
"Lana."


	6. Chapter 6

It was a chilly fall day, about two days after the Lana incident that found Jean, Cyclops, and the Professor sitting together in the mansion beside a roaring fire.  
"It's strange," Jean said as they discussed the incident, "Wolverine was sort of shaken up by the girl. He said that realizing he'd just stumbled across leverage against Sabertooth should have made him act…differently than he did."  
"How do you mean?" Xavier inquired.  
"He said he felt like he should have been more excited (I would call that savage glee), but instead, he just felt…stunned."  
"That would be her 'animal empathy' she told me about." Xavier explained to them the extent of Lana's mutant abilities.

"Mutants with animal-like qualities, such as Wolverine and Sabertooth, fall under the effect of her powers just as ordinary animals would."

"If something like that gets Logan shaken up, we should probably not let them be around each other." Cyclops added.  
"On the contrary Scott," Xavier replied, "I believe that it was good for Logan to respond to something like this without the influence of his impulsive animal nature."  
"Maybe-" Jean started, but was interrupted. Alarms were buzzing, and Hank's voice came over the intercom,  
"Professor, Jean, Cyclops!"  
"Yes Hank?" the Professor moved over to the intercom on the wall.  
"It is Sabertooth! He is on a rampage, the city calls for aid!"  
"And the X-Men will respond." Cyclops replied gravely.

Jean looked at the Professor,  
"Should we?"  
"I will call her."


	7. Chapter 7

_They can't seriously be asking me this,_ Lana thought to herself. She was standing in the small pet store she worked in, one hand holding a phone up to her ear, the other on her hip.  
"We will not force you to go, but you could stop more damage from happening in that city, and possibly save lives. This is a chance for you to use your mutant powers to help humans and mutants alike." The Professor implored her over the phone.  
"I just don't know Professor," Lana said. She thought that that whole ordeal would have ended when she left the mansion. She didn't know why she was so hesitant to see Victor again. Maybe because she was afraid of what he'd become, maybe it was because she was nervous of having so much riding on her ability to calm animals…and mutants.

"We will not force you to go. But I implore you, please give it a chance."  
Lana looked over to where the puppies up for adoption were kept. The normally rowdy pups were all curled into small little balls, sleeping pressed up against one another. One of them opened its eyes, and made contact with hers. She was reminded of just how much like a puppy Victor had been, and that deep down, that lost little puppy was probably still there, and needed her. She sighed into the phone,  
"I'll do it."

Twenty minutes later found Lana strapped into one of the seats of the jet plane the "Black Bird", along with Wolverine, a white haired woman named Storm, and a man with a visor named Cyclops. The further north they flew, the more nervous Lana became. Would he even remember her? They had been but children the last time they saw each other, and the whole ordeal only lasted a couple weeks. She remembered the term that Cyclops had used, "rampage", Victor was on a rampage. Lana could only hope that her powers would be enough to calm him down and get him away from the city.

Suddenly, the Black Bird began to make its descent. They had landed on a grassy knoll just outside the city. The side of the jet opened up, and Cyclops gave instructions,  
"Wolverine, you and Lana will go in together and find Sabertooth. No matter what happens, you are not to leave each others' sides. Approach him slowly, allow for Lana's powers to calm him down. Storm, you fly overhead and give them cover should they need it. Now go!"  
With a growl, Wolverine sprinted from the Black Bird, and ran towards the city. Lana struggled to keep up, and watched with wonder as the white haired woman Storm flew overhead ahead of them. Wolverine ran steadily further ahead of her, and Lana could hear over their communicator devices, Cyclops yelling at Wolverine, ordering him to slow down for her.

Finally, the two of them arrived in the heart of the city. Lana stared in shock at the damage that was undoubtedly wrought by Victor. Utterly destroyed cars lying as if a child had flung them about, and holes blown into the sides of several buildings. Wolverine stopped them, and sniffed the air.  
"He's this way, come on." He beckoned her to follow him down the street. She noticed that her animal empathy was causing him to consciously look out for her as they picked their way through the destroyed street.

Suddenly they heard a roar, and a startlingly evil laugh from up ahead.  
"Victor!" Lana said surprised.  
"Creed!" Wolverine said through clenched teeth.  
They both sped forward, and suddenly there he was. Lana was utterly shocked. This man, whom she remembered until now as a boy, was enormous. He towered over everyone around him, human and mutant alike, and he was wider than everyone else too, his body packed with muscle. An evil look of glee was on his face as he looked victoriously at the woman in his hand. It was Storm! Somehow he must have knocked her out of the sky, and now had her in a weakened state. Upon seeing this, Wolverine let out an inhuman roar, unsheathing his metal claws. Victor looked over and saw him, his evil grin widening.  
"Well well," he said in a voice that was a perpetual growl, "if it isn't the runt, here to save the day." He threw the unconscious Storm over to the side, damaging her even more.  
"You're gonna pay for that Creed!" Wolverine roared.  
"I was hoping you'd try to make me!" he roared back.

The two ran at each other, claws out, teeth bared. They collided with an unbelievable amount of force. Lana was awestruck at the ferocity with which they fought, Victor was practically twice the size of Wolverine, yet they both fought with equal strength. She began to feel afraid, she knew what she had to do, but she was so deathly afraid, she didn't know if she could move. Suddenly, Victor had Wolverine on the ground, pinned, defeated, with his clawed hand raised high in the air.  
"I've waited a long time for this!" Victor roared happily.  
"VICTOR!"

The scream escaped Lana's lips before she even knew what she was doing. Victor stopped, confused, and looked over at her.  
"I'll get to you next lady." He said, not recognizing her.  
"Victor it's me!" Lana said desperately, walking steadily towards him. She could see the change in his face as her animal empathy grabbed a hold of him, and as he began to recognize who she might be.

"Lana?" he half whispered.  
"Yes." She breathed in reply.  
Victor lowered his arm, and stood up off of Wolverine. He walked over to Lana, standing closer to her than she would have liked.  
"Is it really you?" he half asked, half wondered aloud.  
"Yes Victor." She looked way up at him, dwarfed by his massive size.  
"Lana, I-" he began, then, at a loss for words, sank to his knees before her.  
Her eyes welling up with tears, she wrapped her arms around his head, which was level with her stomach. In response, he wrapped his massive arms around her. She stroked his hair, as the two remained there, the girl and her puppy, reunited.

"I've missed you so much." Victor said softly as his Lana stroked his hair.  
"I've missed you too." She replied softly.  
Suddenly aware that the runt would be coming to soon, Victor stood up and turned to see Wolverine standing up.  
"Victor," he heard Lana say from behind him, "please don't hurt him."  
Strangely enough, when she spoke, his desire to dismember Wolverine left him.  
"If that's what you want Lana."  
However, he was still wary of one thing; Sabertooth had never had anything to lose, Wolverine had, and he'd taken advantage of that time and again. Now the one person in the world that he cared about was back in his life, and he was sure that Wolverine would take advantage of that.  
Wolverine stood up, shaking his head, and growled at him, Sabertooth growled back, but didn't move.  
"Wolverine, stop. We're all done fighting now." She said firmly.

Wolverine growled reluctantly, but then said,  
"Okay, let's go then."  
A sudden panic set in Sabertooth's stomach. No, he couldn't lose her, not again. Nobody was going to separate them! Not Jedediah Creed, and not Wolverine!  
"No Wolverine." Lana said calmly, settling Sabertooth's rage before it could escape. "I need to stay with him. It'd be best for everyone if Victor and I stayed together awhile."  
_Forever if I have anything to say about it._ Sabertooth thought vigilantly.  
Wolverine maintained his gaze, his eyes narrowing. Sabertooth narrowed his eyes right back, his lip curling into a snarl. Wolverine grunted, then went to gather his white-haired friend, and left.

Sabertooth turned, and looked down at her. His Lana. He finally had her, and everything was going to be okay.


End file.
